The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1887-10-12

true that we have not had regular weekly
baths the past summer. but it was more
the fault of the men than the officers, as so
many preferred to battle in their cells that
the weekly baths were discontinued; but
any man could get bath at least once in
two weeks ii he asked for it. That War
den StOrdOck did not make frequent trips
through the shops and about the cellrOom is
not to be wondered at, when you take into
consideration the fact that he has lost both
feet, is minus one lung, and has been in poor
health generally ever since he came here,
but he has always been accessible at his
office, except, perhaps, to some ''cranks''
who persistently bother him about matters
of no moment. There is reason in all
things. but no inmate of this prison who
had any legitimate business with the warden
was ever refused an audience, and we have
frequently seen him sit patiently and listen
to petty grievances when he should have
been in bed.
In regard to the statement that TIE
PRI SON MIRROR is under the immediate
supervision of the warden, and that not a
line goes into it that he does not first read"
and that ''that paper is simply run in the
interest of StordOck." 1t is not necessary
to deny the latter assertion to any person
who has an atom of brains. 1t is true that
some of the proofs are shown 10 Warden
StOrdOck- those that are taken first, and
being mostly cOmmunicationS-but he sell
dom sees the proof of a local or editorial
item he NEVER sees an article until it is in
type and he has NEVER changed. or sug-
gested change, of single word or sen
tence in any proof of any article which has
appeared in TIE MIRROR since the present
editor took charge of it. Frequently when
proofs have been taken to him he has re-
turned them with out even glance, with
the remark Il guess they are all right, any
way" Warden StOrdOck is personally re-
spOnsible for THE MIRROR, financially, las
how else could men deprived of liberty do
business with the outside worldly but he
has left it entirely to the judgement of it's
editor to say what should and what should
not appear in it's columns We are but NOR
tai. though we do wear stripes, and it is
possible that we may have erred; in fact,
we think we have in one or two instances
not as between right and wrOng-but
through an error of judgement in allowing
matter on subjects foreign to the policy and
intent of our paper to appear in its COL
umns. Only this, and nothing more.
We may add in this connection that NO
citizen, or official of this prison. has any
supervision. or III any manner scrutinizes,
or knows what the contents of THE MIRROR
are to be until it is printed: neither does
any convict except those employed in its
construction, and no official or other person
will know what this weeks MIRROR con-
tains until after it is issued.
Geo. Lautenschlager has a personal
grudge against the head officers of this in
stitu ton other than that created by trivial
punis hment for gross infraction of prison
rules. Ii he had any complaint to make
he should have presented it to the proper
authorities. The warden does not person.
ally superintend the preparation of the food,
and it is sometimes necessary to deal out
little ''eye water to others than convicts,
and Warden Stordock always gives every
man fair trial. The hash for which he
was punished for exhibiting to a fellow con-
vic 1--WE have made no inquiries as to the
truth OF what he was punished for; we
has told the TRUTH was manufactured under
Steward Smithson, and not by Steward
Benner. We are down on hash anyway,
and the man who invented prison hash
should be hing